Mehmet E. Ozbek, Ph.D., professor and the holder of the Joseph Phelps Endowed Chair in the Department of Construction Management at Colorado State University had another productive year in which he received recognition at the national and international levels. Some of the highlights of his teaching, mentoring, research, and service activities this past year enhanced this prestigious Chair’s name recognition, both nationally and internationally.

Teaching

Ozbek’s work on the American Society of Civil Engineers Future World Vision initiative and his incorporation of the Mega City 2070 platform into the courses he teaches have significantly improved students’ learning experiences and critical thinking skills. He has been invited by ASCE to give talks at multiple venues at the national level (such as the ASCE Annual Convention, ASCE Multi-Region Leadership Conference, and an ASCE National Webinar), sharing information with other college educators on how to incorporate this platform into the college curriculum, benefitting many programs and thus students across the United States.

Industry outreach and research

Efforts by Ozbek in training the next generation of industry professionals have gained national and international recognition. He was featured in an interview by the ASCE Civil Engineering Magazine as well as in an Engineering News Record (ENR) article, both outlets with worldwide subscriptions. Ozbek continued mentoring graduate students. Fawzi Khalife, the Ph.D. student Ozbek recruited using the funds provided by the Joseph Phelps Chair Endowment, was selected to join the Sustainability Leadership Fellow Cohort of CSU’s prominent School of Global Environmental Sustainability.

Work continued on Ozbek’s two external grants funded by the U. S. Department of Transportation. One is investigating the social equity in transportation and the other, investigating the optimal selection of upgrade and maintenance interventions by transportation agencies. He also continued disseminating his research findings both in prominent journals and numerous international conferences to which he traveled, thanks to the funds provided by the Joseph Phelps Chair Endowment.

Recognition and impact

This work earned Ozbek recognition in two international conferences. He was the recipient of the best presentation award at the Sixth Australia and South-East Asia Structural Engineering and Construction Conference held in Sydney, Australia. He won Best Paper 3^rd Place Award for his paper presented at the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building Construction W070 Conference on Facility Management and Maintenance held in Trondheim, Norway. Further, one of his journal articles published in the ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering was selected to be featured in the Editor’s Choice Collection.

Ozbek continued his very active roles in national committees serving the construction industry and academia. He maintained significant leadership on three journal editorial boards and was recently featured as a panelist in the “Ask Faculty Anything” series, with two other prominent journal editors to discuss effective practices for writing and reviewing papers. This is a series hosted by Iowa State University to help graduate students and junior faculty in their transition to academic life.

Influence of the endowed chair position

Ozbek has been active in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice as well, serving as a sub-committee chair on the ASCE Task Force on Creating and Fostering Inclusive Academic Communities and as the chair of CM’s DEIJ committee. The department recently hosted a workshop to help members of its Professional Development Advisory Board develop competencies to better recruit and retain a diverse workforce.

Additionally, Ozbek was instrumental in recruiting the Keynote Speaker for this year’s CHHS Research Day, Mr. Jerry Buckwalter, Chief Innovation Officer for the American Society of Civil Engineers, who wowed the audience with his speech entitled “Envision the Future.” This event was partially supported by the funds provided by the Joseph Phelps Chair Endowment.

Ozbek credits the additional opportunities and funding this Chair has provided, in pursuing these activities and scholarly goals overall.  “This prestigious Chair’s impacts have been far-reaching, helping me as well as other faculty members, students, and industry professionals.” said Ozbek. “I look forward to my third year as the Joseph Phelps Endowed Chair and will continue to do my best to respect and uphold the reputation of the Phelps name.”

The Department of Construction Management is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.